Belize a "Skip" Day?

[SuperTrooper00]

My wife and I have plans in every other port of our cruise except Belize. We are strongly considering just using that stop as a "Sea Day". We are mildly interested in taking a Mayan Ruin tour or snorkeling but are not sure we want to spend the money. We love cruises that are heavy on sea days so the idea of relaxing on board an half-empty ship is appealing. So, I have 2 questions:

1. Would we be making a big mistake to skip Belize?

2. Are there any options that are on the cheaper side and do not require much of an investment?

[KenMo]

I don't think it would be a huge mistake to skip Belize if you'd rather have a Sea Day.

 

Most of the excursions require quite a bit of travel time to get there compared to other ports.

 

It's about a 15-20 minute tender ride to the port.

 

We went to Lamanai ruins, which added at least an hour more travel time.

 

We've cave tubed which is also about an hour travel time.

 

So if you're only mildly interested in an excursion, I'd just stay on board and enjoy an almost empty ship.

[Will in sunny FL]

If this is your first trip to Belize, why not at least ride the tender to the Tourist Village & have a look around.

You might even venture outside of the village & have a look see what Belize might be like, not the "real" belize but close IMHO.

We have been cruising there since the mid 90's and usualy do the snorkel trip with Coral Breeze Tours with the local lunch on caye caulker. It is a fun time.

You will be home & resting soon enough !!

Get out there & see at least some of Belize !!

Bill in FL

[thescot123]

I agree with Will, that you should at least visit the tourism village.

 

For me, i have booked coral breeze tour excursion to shark ray alley and caye caulker. Belize is well known for their reef.

 

Caye Caulker and Ambergryis Caye are quaint and safe. People get around on golf carts. These are places where you dream of retiring to and also to away from the rat race.

[swedish weave]

I would recommend taking a taxi tour of Belize City. You will leave with a greater appreciation of what we have in the USA. There are some very nice areas, but much poverty. It has been a few years since we were there, but gasoline was ten dollars per gallon in their money (five dollars US)

 

We visited a very nice beach, and the countryside was interesting. The taxi driver was into herbal medicine and stopped several times to show us the local plants and explained their medicinal uses and how they were used in cooking. Very fascinating to me !!!

[swedish weave]

If you are undecided about Belize, take a look at the website below.

 

http://www.belize.com

[SuperTrooper00]

If this is your first trip to Belize, why not at least ride the tender to the Tourist Village & have a look around.

 

Bill in FL

 

I should have made that more clear. If we used it as a "Sea Day", we would probably sleep in, grab a bite, and then grab a tender into the Tourist Village. That is actually a Sea Day for us because it is so relaxing.

I was just making sure that I wouldn't regret doing that in Belize. We have done it at several other ports and love the relaxing day. It just seems based on doing research online, that to do either of the two excursions we would be interested in (snorkeling or Mayan Ruins) it would cost us upwards of $150+ and would take all day.

Also, it seems after reading the ports of call, that Belize would be the port that would work best for that for us. I was more looking to see if someone came on here and said, "Don't skip Belize! It was our favorite port/excursion ever...".

[Oviedo32765]

We've been to Belize before and did a ruins tour. Got to see a lot of the country during the bus ride to and from the ruins.

 

We will be returning in February and plan to make it a "sea day." There aren't any ship tours that interest us. We plan on getting a lot of beach time in at Costa Maya and Roatan, so we won't be taking any water activity tours in Belize. Not interested in cave-tubing. Done zip-lining and don't care to do that again.

 

So it's going to be a relaxing day on board. I've never stayed on board in a port before. Bet it's strange without the crowds. Hopefully the spa will be offering port-day specials we can take advantage of. I plan to drag my camera and tripod around the ship too.

[wadethegringo]

My first time to Belize was on cruise. went back 2 more times on a ship. then a week in Caye Caulker. Now I have been in San Pedro three years.

 

If you stay in the village or tour the city. Nothing wrong with those options, Just keep in mind that they do not show you the REAL Belize.

 

The bar at the Tourism Village is a good spot for a beer.

 

Have a great trip.

[Scottifer]

My wife and I are using it as a "Sea Day" we've never been to Belize so we'll just check out the tourism village for an hour or so. But I'd much rather be on the ship lounging and reading

[CACkles]

Don't skip Belize! It was our favorite excursion ever!

 

We just got back. We had four stops, but our favorite was cave tubing in Belize. I'm not sure if that didn't interest you, or if you are more concerned about the cost. If it's just the cost, then using an independent operator is the way to go. We used VIV and they were wonderful, highly recommended. It was less than $50/person and included an excellent and informative city tour on the way. if you've ever floated a river and enjoyed it, then this is not to be missed.

 

On the other hand, if that is not your thing, and nothing sounds better to you than a relaxing ship day, you should by all means do that. I always come back from a cruise wishing for more sea days (and more port days).

[SuperTrooper00]

It probably sounds odd, but much of the motivation of not doing anything in Belize is just so we can sleep in and enjoy a late meal. I have read people on here say, "You can sleep in at home, get out there and enjoy it!". Ummm...we can't sleep in at home. We have jobs and a 5 and 3 year old who don't no what sleeping in means. So, our only time to relax and sleep in is on vacation.

Of course, we don't want to do that every day, but a few days out of 7 would be great.

We are very much beach people, and know we will be "beached" out after going to Costa Maya, COzumel, and ROatan. THat is all relaxing, but to get your money's worth they are also pretty full days. So Belize has been the most obvious on the chopping block for us.

As far as Cave Tubing: I would say we would do it, but not sure I would want to pay to do it. We have terrific White-Water rafting in Cali here, as well as the California river where we go just to float/relax.

Zip-lining was very ho-hum for us. People seem to live it, but last time we did it I did not think it was worth the cost.

[SANDYJABS]

We did this cruise in Aug. We are doing it again next June. I had never been to Belize before and we did the Coral Breeze Shark and Rays tour. We will be using this day as a "sea day" next June. Out of all the ports of call -Belize was my least favorite. I think that if you are looking to pick one of the ports that this is the one to pick to sleep in and take your time. I know others love Belize but I felt like the Belize ppl did not want us there, they were not very friendly compared to other ports.

[thescot123]

Sandyjabs

 

How was the shark ray alley tour? I am using coral breeze in oct.

[OCruisers]

The bar at the Tourism Village is a good spot for a beer. .

 

That is Wet Lizzard if I remember correctly!

 

Also, land excursons can be booked as well as water tours to the barier reef are offered from there. :D

[livnowensmom]

We have a 12 and 8 year old and are basically beaching it every port after that. We figured we will explore the village and then go back and hang out on the ship. I was going to post to get opinions, so thanks!! :)

[mousecrazy]

I'm definitely in the don't skip Belize camp. We spent $40 pp (less for the kids) and went to Goff's Caye for the day. Just being out in the middle of the ocean on a tiny island was an amazing experience. My kids loved the soft, sandy beach and the snorkeling from the beach. The number of people on the island is limited and did not feel crowded at all. It was the best day of our vacation! We can't wait to go back in February.

[MichaelZ]

Don't skip Belize! You really shouldn't let the underdevleoped touristy feeling of Belize convince you to stay on the ship. Belize is a really unique country. Its Mayan country and the rainforest and jungle are amazing. If you aren't into Mayan ruins, then the cave tubing is pretty incredible. Cave tubing is a river system that goes throught the rainforest and through tunnels and caves. You will be the rainforest, but on a fresh water river and in a floaty tube. This is something, in all my travels, that i have never heard about anywhere else. We have used Island Marketing and booked both our cave tubing on one trip and the ruins with them on a different trip. The Mayan ruins in Belize are different than you might be expecting. I hve been to ruins in mexico (Tulum) where everything is roped off. We walked aruond in the heat and melted and didn't get to explore anything, just look at piles of rocks. But the ruins we went to in Belize, we could climb them and the view for the top was awesome. The Mayans were pretty incredible. And the myth we learned in school that the mayans all disappears is a lie. I met mayans on my trips to belize, they are alive and well, and very very short.

[SANDYJABS]

Sandyjabs

 

How was the shark ray alley tour? I am using coral breeze in oct.

 

It was a good excursion. My only complaint which was not that bad would be that it was a little crowded on the boat. Coral Breeze subs this excursion out to a different company at the pier but they do a good job.

[thescot123]

It was a good excursion. My only complaint which was not that bad would be that it was a little crowded on the boat. Coral Breeze subs this excursion out to a different company at the pier but they do a good job.

 

Thanks for the update. This would be the first time that I have done an independent tour in Belize. The ship, NCL, no longers offers a ship excursion to shark ray hence the reason to go independent. Have read positive reviews of coral breeze. I believe that they use Hammerhead sports for the trip. Not too sure if it will crowded since we are the only ship in port that day. Mark, coral breeze, did email me that he has the 10 person minimum to use the boat.

 

Can't wait as I really enjoy Hoi chan, have done it 3 times before.

[Jumis14]

I'm definitely in the don't skip Belize camp. We spent $40 pp (less for the kids) and went to Goff's Caye for the day. Just being out in the middle of the ocean on a tiny island was an amazing experience. My kids loved the soft, sandy beach and the snorkeling from the beach. The number of people on the island is limited and did not feel crowded at all. It was the best day of our vacation! We can't wait to go back in February.

 

 

Hey mousecrazy did you book through the ship or through an independent company?

[katytxmom]

Last November I used Coral Breeze for the Caye Caulker Snorkling tour. We did the without lunch option. It was the best day of my cruise. The tour guide asked if we wanted a golf cart to drive around at caye and she called that in so they were waiting for us when we arrived. $12 for an hour. It was great! We drove around and bought local food from vendors on the street. Homemade Belizian tamales and grilled Conch!

[Mississippian]

Don't skip Belize altogether. You can rent a car and go to Altun Ha and back pretty quickly. Same for going to the Belize Zoo, which is pretty neat. If you go to the zoo, on your way back go north at Hattieville on the road to Burrell Boom and stop at the prison gift shop. The prisoners have to earn their spending money by carving things for sale. Going ashore and seeing something need not be exhausting or time consuming.

 

Personally, if I was going to make a sea day of it I wouldn't bother going in to the tourist village. That ain't Belize.

[STARFISH*4]

get away from the port and see BELIZE...we did Altun Ha ruins with a city tour and then i did Lamani...i am sure glad i got to do these ruins--they were both amazing!!